The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von de Leyen, will meet this afternoon with King Charles III, according to a Buckingham Palace source. The European Commission president is visiting the UK for final talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on a new deal on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland. "The king is delighted to meet any world leader if they visit the UK and it is the government's advice that he do so," a palace spokesman said.
The audience with the monarch is intended to smooth things over among members of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whose nod to a deal on Northern Ireland's controversial Brexit protocol is vital. "I'm really looking forward to turning the page and opening a new chapter with our partner and friend," Von der Leyen said on Twitter.
The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, receives Von de Leyen on the outskirts of London on Monday to try to close an agreement on the protocol after months of intense negotiations. Sunak is expected to meet Von de Leyen around noon in Berkshire county, outside London, amid growing expectations that this deal will be finalized to resolve customs and political issues between the island of Great Britain and the province of Northern Ireland.
According to British government sources, the two politicians hope to address complex "challenges" over the protocol before they can sign the deal and make it public.
In the event that the pact is closed this Monday, as expected, the British Prime Minister and the President of the EC will offer a press conference to give details of it.
Once Sunak has informed his Government of the agreement, he will make a statement in the House of Commons on Monday to explain details of the agreement to all members of this Lower House.
In a statement to the Express newspaper, Brexit said it aims to make Brexit "work for everyone" and solve "the problems" so that Northern Ireland is "in control of its own destiny."
Under the current protocol, Northern Ireland falls within the Community and British internal market, so trade controls between the United Kingdom and the EU are carried out at the Northern Irish entry points, which avoids building a physical border between the two Irelands and not harm the peace agreement (1998).
This commercial border, located in the Irish Sea, has also created political problems among pro-British unionists, as they consider that it affects their relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom.
It remains to be seen if the new agreement now negotiated eliminates the concerns of the DUP, whose approval is vital to be able to restore the Northern Irish Autonomous Executive (Stormont), which has been suspended for a year.
According to the media, the negotiated agreement establishes a system of green and red lanes between Great Britain and the province. Goods destined for Northern Ireland would go through the green lane without routine controls, while those exported to the Republic of Ireland -in the EU- would go through the red lanes, for which reason they would undergo customs procedures in Northern Irish ports.
In addition, the European Court of Justice would continue as the final arbitrator in the event of a dispute over the single market rules that apply in Northern Ireland, something unionists opposed.
